Survey shows student satisfaction at Troy

What was meant to be a class project became a way for Troy students to voice their opinions about their satisfaction with the university.

Olivia Melton, a sophomore math and economics major from Orange Beach, created a Troy University Student Satisfaction Survey on Surveymonkey.com that consisted of 10 questions about student life and students’ overall satisfaction of Troy.

Melton originally created the survey for her Introduction to Social Science Inquiry class, but decided to make the project bigger.

After advertising the survey on Trojan Today for three days, posting the survey on the Troy University Textbook Exchange page, and announcing it at Student Government Association meetings and by word-of-mouth, 539 students took Melton’s satisfaction survey. The survey was available for two weeks.

Melton, in her project portfolio, said that the data compiled from the survey could help students support their opinions when they “go to Troy faculty to justify any concerns they have.”

The survey included questions about a fee to have a 24-hour library, dining hours and Troy’s communication to the student body about certain events.

Melton found that there was a direct correlation between classification, library use and willingness to pay a $25 fee to have a 24-hour library.

Higher classifications (seniors and juniors) had higher percentages ranging from 48 to 51 percent saying they would pay the fee to have a 24-hour library, though lower classifications (freshman and sophomores) had a significant 35 to 46 percent that would be willing to pay the fee as well.

Students were then asked about their satisfaction with dining hall hours.

All classifications showed extreme dissatisfaction with the hours. The results for each classification ranged from 61 to 80 percent, with sophomores being the most dissatisfied with dining hall hours.

Melton, said that in her results, she found that 46 percent of students were not happy with how Troy’s communication about volunteer events and opportunities, though other campus activities and athletic events had very high percentages.

Melton, in the conclusion of her portfolio, said that the “results collected should help the student leaders and Troy University’s faculty become more productive in satisfying the student body’s needs.”